King Kong (non-existent cut content of Pre-code monster adventure film; 1933)

Theatrical release poster.

Status: Unproduced

King Kong is a 1933 monster adventure film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. Since its release, the film has received much praise and is seen by many as one of the greatest films of all time. However, the film has several scenes cut for various reasons. Though it has been found that they were never filmed due to budgetary reasons, as they are not present on the shooting script.

List of Cut Scenes

The following scenes were cut (some of them may have never even been shot):

• The infamous "Spider Pit Sequence" that was allegedly cut after the first screening. After being shaken off of a log into a ravine by Kong, the crew members are attacked by a wide variety of creatures (including giant spiders, hence the name). The scene supposedly caused several members of the audience to scream, leave and in some cases faint, and as such was cut by Cooper himself from all following screenings, (although allegedly due to the fact that it "stopped the story", and not due to the audience's reaction). It was later reconstructed by Peter Jackson using traditional stop-motion effects and put on the two-disc collector's edition as an extra. Although this scene does appear in the film's script, and in Delos W. Lovelace's 1932 novelization of the film, the scene was later proven to have never been filmed.
• Kong vs. Three Triceratops; partially filmed and appears in Lovelace's novelization.
• Brontosaurus violently kills three sailors in the water.
• Styracaceous chases the crew onto a log. This scene is sometimes considered to be part of the spider pit sequence and is also included in Peter Jackson's spider pit reconstruction.
• Extended scenes of Jack Driscoll and Ann's escape from Kong's lair. Included shots of Kong climbing down after them. This scene was cut because it interfered with the film's pacing.
• Kong breaks up a Hotel Poker Party; possibly filmed but removed for being too similar to a scene in the 1925 film The Lost World.
• An above shot of Kong falling from the Empire State Building. This scene was removed because it looked too unrealistic, and Kong allegedly looked transparent.

Gallery

Images

• 

  A still of the above shot of Kong falling.

• 

  An animation still of Kong climbing a mountain.

Videos

Peter Jackson's "Spider Pit Sequence" recreation.

Seeker of The Lost's video debunking the existence of the spider pit sequence.

Scribbles to Screen's video on the subject.

See Also

• The King Kong Show (partially found animated series; 1966-1969)
• The King Kong That Appeared in Edo (lost Japanese monster film; 1938)
• Wasei Kingu Kongu (lost silent Japanese short; 1933)

External Links

• Wikipedia page on King Kong (1933).
• The Story of King Kong.